Rubbishing the Bharatiya Janata Party’s attempts to draw parallels between anti-land acquisition agitations in Nandigram and Singur in the past and those currently taking place in Sandeshkhali, Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee insisted that the two cannot be compared.
Banerjee was, however, careful not to name Sandeshkhali directly while making that observation.
“Remember Singur is Singur, Nandigram is Nandigram, Khatra is Khatra, and Bishnupur is Bishunupur. Each place has its own characteristics. So do not compare one with the other,” the West Bengal chief minister said while speaking at the administrative review meeting held at Khatra in Bankura.
“Do not make the mistake of inciting violence. I do not want any bloodshed and any incident of torture anywhere. I do not support any wrongdoing and I won’t do that ever in my life. Even if some wrong was unknowingly committed somewhere, I do not support that as well,” she said.
Several BJP leaders in the recent past have tried to corner the ruling Trinamool dispensation by drawing similarities of the anti-land grab agitations in Nandigram and Singur back in 2007-08.
While those agitations catapulted Banerjee to state power against the erstwhile ruling Left Front, the BJP suggested that the current Sandeshkhali agitations signified the turning of tides against Banerjee this time around.
Obliquely referring to the Sandeshkhali developments, Banerjee on Wednesday pointed fingers at those yelling about such comparisons.
“Some people are talking big. Do you want me to open my box? Then you will be able to understand which one is correct. I have several things stored there,” she said, threatening to open the closet from where skeletons of her detractors could tumble out.
Referring to the BJP’s Khalistani jibe at a Sikh IPS officer, Banerjee also reiterated her “real communal face of the BJP” stand.
“When they see a Sikh IPS officer wearing pagdi (turban), they call him Khalistani. This is their real communal face,” she claimed.
A Sikh IPS officer, who was deputed to prevent senior state BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari from visiting restive Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district, last week slammed saffron party activists for allegedly dubbing him a ‘Khalistani’.
Banerjee further claimed that several BJP-ruled states are copying the welfare schemes of her government.
“The BJP says we have not done any development for West Bengal. But the fact is that several states ruled by the saffron party are copying our projects,” she said.
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